Ujiri jokes about relationship with Lowry: He's 'always mad at me, every year'

In a sit-down interview with ESPN's Rachel Nichols, Kyle Lowry did little to dispel the notion that he has some level of animosity toward Raptors president Masai Ujiri after ultimately dealing friend and teammate DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard.

Ujiri had a chance to weigh in on Lowry's recent comments prior to the Raptors' 113-102 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

"Kyle Lowry is always mad at me, every year," Ujiri jokingly told panelists Nichols, Tracy McGrady, and Zach Lowe on "The Jump" Wednesday.

"I understand what happened with DeMar," he continued. "There are two things in this business that are tough ... When a player leaves - and Kawhi left. And then, when a player gets traded. Those two things are tough. And in our position, we have to do them, and we have to deal with them. And in a trade, it's tough to communicate with players in that manner. We have to communicate with agents and can't go and say, 'Oh, you're going to get traded.'"

At this stage in their relationship, Ujiri is well aware of Lowry's occasionally prickly personality, but insists the two have never had an issue with each other.

"It's been like that with Kyle since I came here," said Ujiri. "We've never - we don't have a confrontation. We don't - I've never done anything wrong to him. It's just this kind of decision-making that we have to go through. And I know how Kyle is, so honestly, I love him to death."